Thursday, May 2012

CWS 2012 Goal: $200,000
Where are we? $ 92,600!

The Annual Fund supports excellence and diversity at CWS. Our strategic plan includes a goal that: Chicago Waldorf School will be an inclusive community that better reflects the diversity of the city in which we live and will offer an educational experience that prepares students to thrive in a multicultural world. Charitable gifts to the Annual Fund allow the entire school community to support an important component of each family’s educational costs, to fund financial aid programs and to minimize tuition increases that strengthen our school community. Charitable donations to the Annual Fund may also be matched by employers which greatly extends the power of your gift!

Matching Programs Can Sometimes Double Your Gifts!

Many companies offer matching gifts for employees, employees’ spouses/partners and some retirees. Usually a company will have this information along with the directions for the matching gift process on their web site. You can also request a matching gift form from the company’s benefits or personnel office and submit it with your pledge payments. It is a wonderful way to increase your gift to the school.

Lee Boyce, CWS Trustee and Vice President of Finance at Kraft Foods has utilized his company’s matching gifts program to bolster his contribution to Chicago Waldorf School. He shares his experience:

How did you learn about the matching gift program at KRAFT?

[Lee:] Kraft has always made community involvement a very important aspect of its employee’s lives. Kraft has a very well designed internal Community Giving section on its intranet site where it lays out the matching gift application process.
I think that many companies offer gift matching as a benefit; it may just be that they don’t advertise it as widely.

Tell us how you set up the program to enhance your gifts.

[Lee:] The application process is very easy to navigate. As long as the institution is eligible, it is merely a case of making the gift, completing a simple online application, and then waiting for confirmation that the match has been made. Many companies have a paper application process. But this is also straightforward. Just complete the one page form and submit it for processing.

Why did you and your wife Catherine choose CWS for your matching gifts?

[Lee:] The School has always been our top choice for giving. It reflects our values and optimism for helping developing our children to achieve their own dreams and aspirations, by nurturing a real love of learning and a gentle appreciation for the world and individuals around them. Our children are extremely important to Cathy and me, so it seems natural that such an important part of their lives is where we would focus our giving.

The School has always been our top choice for giving. It reflects our values and optimism for helping developing our children to achieve their own dreams and aspirations, so it seems natural that such an important part of their lives is where we would focus our giving.

-Lee & Catherine Boyce

We thank Lee and Catherine Boyce for their generosity and for making the most of their gifts through the Kraft matching gift program. Contact your company’s benefits or personnel office to find out if you can match your gifts to our CWS annual fund. Help our CWS reach its annual fund goal of $200,000! Please Click Here to contribute to Annual Fund now.